The Way I Loved You
by masonangel
Summary: The flock split up two years ago and they haven't been the flock ever since. Max heard this song in the car with her boyfriend and it makes her remember all the things she had pushed away. Oneshot songfic.


**(AN: I do not own Maximum Ride or the song The Way I Loved You by Taylor Swift. I really wish I did but I don't so boo who.)**

**Max's POV**

I took Sam's hand and he lifted me gently into the car. He had a tall navy blue pick-up that he used for everything: from picking up his date to picking up mulch from the landfill. Thankfully he had cleaned it out before tonight. We were going to a party and then to a really nice fancy restaurant, so I had my dress in my bag to change into later. I wouldn't have worn a dress in his car anyway. He put one hand on my waist as I climbed in. I turned and smiled down at him.

"You look absolutely, stunningly beautiful. Well, you're always beautiful, but tonight you're amazing." He smiled and lifted my hand to his mouth. He was always such a gentleman. He got into his seat and turned the keys in the ignition. He was listening to 106.5 and he told me he would turn it off if I wanted. I said no and I concentrated on the lines of a song I knew from my half-sister. The words had just now caught my attention and I listened intently.

_He is sensible and so incredible and all my single friends are jealous; He says everything I need to hear and it's like I couldn't ask for anything better; He opens up my door and I get into his car; And he says you look beautiful tonight; And I feel perfectly fine _

The words reminded me of Sam. When we stopped at a light, I kissed his cheek. He smiled at me cutely and I smiled back. The light turned green, I sat back, and the chorus played.

_But I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain; And it's 2am and I'm cursing your name; You're so in love that you act insane; And that's the way I loved you  
Breakin' down and coming undone it's a roller coaster kinda rush; And I never knew I could feel that much; And that's the way I loved you_

Suddenly I wasn't in Sam's car anymore. I was in a tall white oak and the rain poured around me in icy sheets. Fang and I were sitting close enough to keep warm. We were also laughing and talking and holding hands.

"Max, Iggy left this morning. Nudge leaves tomorrow. Angel and Gazzy have already planned out their departure. What are we going to do? It'll just be me and you. No more flock. No more family. What happens when one of us has to leave?" Fang smiled sadly at me and I couldn't help but smile back.

I didn't want him to leave too. I needed him. I loved him. And I had to tell him before it was too late. Instead of using my mouth to tell him, I showed him. I brushed my lips across his jaw. He wrapped a hand around the back of my neck and kissed me. At first, the kiss was gentle and held back. Then, in an instant, it was hungry and ardent. His hands ran through my hair. My hands were tugging at his tee-shirt. I pulled it off and pressed myself to his bare chest.

Later, as I was about to fall asleep, he kissed my head and whispered, "I love you Max." I nodded and drifted into sweet unconsciousness.

Jolted back to reality by a pothole, I found that my breathing was erratic and my heart was racing like a horse on a track. Sam looked over at me and his thoughtful expression changed to a worried one. "Max? You're crying! What's wrong?" He leaned closer to me and took my hand.

For the first time in two years, I had allowed myself to drift back. I had allowed my mind to remember the flock. We had all decided it was best to not think about each other or our past. We also decided to blend in; to stop flying.

I tried to stop the flood of memories. To help, I concentrated again on the lyrics.

_He respects my space and never makes me wait; And he calls exactly when he says he will; He's close to my mother, talks business with my father; He's charming and endearing and I'm comfortable_

Again, I thought of Sam. He was great; he was the right person for me right now. He softly wiped the tears from my cheeks. I smiled apologetically and the chorus replayed.

_But I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain; And it's 2am and I'm cursing your name; You're so in love that you act insane; And that's the way I loved you; Breakin' down and coming undone it's a roller coaster kinda rush; And I never knew I could feel that much; And that's the way I loved you_

I remembered the night Fang left.

We were standing on the front steps of my mom's house. I was about to unlock the door, but he took my hands and turned me to him. He wasn't smiling like the second before.

"Max, I'm leaving."

I felt my heart constrict and I had to swallow before I could speak. "No. Fang, you can't. You promised. Why do you have to leave? Where are you going?" I was whispering breathlessly; it felt like a hand was squeezing my heart. I couldn't believe he would do this to me.

"I got a job in California at a computer company. And I can't take you. I have nowhere to live and I have no money to get food."

"Fang we've been through so much worse," I countered. "I can hide with you, we can scrounge through garbage bins again."

He shook his head. "Max, I can't ask you to do that. I won't make you suffer like that again—"

Realization hit me, a knife right to my heart. "No…You just don't want me there with you!"

Fang balked at that. "Max no! I would never—"

I turned to the door and opened it swiftly. "Don't bother explaining or apologizing. It won't help. Just leave." I slammed the door shut behind me and he called my name. I laid my head back and slid to the ground. I couldn't escape the flow of tears. That was how my mom found me. She hugged me and herded me up to bed, where I cried myself to sleep.

_He can't see the smile I'm faking; And my heart's not breaking; Cause I'm not feeling anything at all; And you were wild and crazy; Just so frustrating, intoxicating,  
complicated; Got away by some mistake and now_

It hit me with the force of a rushing river. Sam really didn't know me. It was like, when we had all decided to be normal, I had lost myself. The flock had each taken part of me with them. I wasn't Maximum Ride anymore; not without them. Especially Fang.

"Sam, pull over, please." I adopted a pleading tone and he obliged. I ripped my hand from his and jumped from the car. I leaned back in to say one last thing to the boy who'd gotten me through my hardest times.

"I'm sorry," I said. "This won't work. I can't do this anymore. Pretending is just too hard." With that, I threw my jacket off and launched myself into the air. Takeoff was a bit dodgy and for a second I thought I would fall, but I got the hang of it soon enough. I flew back towards my mom's house and the only person who kept in constant contact with everyone: Nudge.

I was in the air for about an hour and it felt so good to fly again. The cool wind helped to clear my head a bit. I landed and almost stumbled forward. It had been too long since my last flight. It was sprinkling and the water felt nice on my bare arms. I knocked and Nudge opened the door. At first she didn't recognize me and she tried to shut the door. I put my hand between the door and its frame, stopping her.

"Please Nudge. I need your help. I need to see everyone again." My voice broke on the last word, and she flung the door open and fell into my arms. She sobbed. I sobbed. Nothing compares to that feeling of regaining something you had thought was lost.

She invited me in and we sat on the couch while she played a movie for background noise. I put my arm around her shoulder and hugged her close. I couldn't believe I finally had her back. It seemed like things that happened to me were all too surreal; they were never really credible until a couple days later. I hoped that this reunion wouldn't take that long.

"Oh my gosh, Nudge," I whispered into her hair. You have no idea what it's been like to be a normal twenty year old. I haven't thought about you guys fro two whole years. It killed me. Deep down inside, all that was left of Maximum Ride went into hiding from Max, the cutie teenager who's everybody's dream. I just wasn't the real Max anymore. I was boring and dumb and clueless—" Nudge laughed. Oh how I'd missed her laugh!

We talked for hours and she fell asleep on my lap. I spent a couple hours just watching her and thinking about how much I'd missed. Before the Great Divide (as it had come to be known among all of us who dared talk of it), I had known each and every flock member like I knew myself. Now, everybody had changed. Angel would be twelve and the Gasman would be a teenager. Nudge was seventeen years old and the top student in her high school.

How could I have been so stupid? I just let them all go. But it was what they had wanted, and I couldn't have denied them what would've made them happy. With that thought came thoughts of Fang. Was he happy? What was he doing? How was his job? I had a desperate need to see him, right then and there. I needed to apologize. The last words I had said to him were, "Just leave."

I grabbed a notepad off the counter and wrote quickly that I'd only be gone a couple of hours. I also left my cell number. I very carefully snuck into Nudge's room and found her address book. I had never asked her for Fang's phone number or his address; I had been too depressed. I looked up his house and found that a twenty-minute flight was all that separated him and me.

Outside, the rain was coming down harder and faster. It was freezing cold, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was getting to Fang. On the flight I had time to think about what I'd say. By the time I got there, I was soaking wet and without a plan at all. I landed without difficulty this time. The second time after two years. I guess when things come flooding back, they really flood back. I just hoped that the same would be true for Fang.

I held my hand above the door for a second. Then I knocked hesitantly.

I had to wait a while to hear footsteps coming toward the door. At first he opened it only a little, then he opened it wide enough so that I could see all of him. He stood there on the threshold in the pouring rain. He looked at me in disbelief.

**Fang's POV**

I was dreaming! I was absolutely sure I was dreaming! Or maybe I had died in my sleep and had gone to heaven, because there she was, my angel, standing on my doorstep.

"Um…" I was speechless. I blinked once or twice and opened my mouth to speak. "You're…I'm…I'm sorry, but y-y-you're a dream," I stuttered. I shook my head and she smiled slightly. Her smile melted my heart. Oh, she was beautiful. Her soaking wet hair flowed over her shoulders and her chocolate-brown eyes shone like stars.

She giggled softly, a Max giggle, the giggle I'd been hearing in the back of my mind everyday for two years. "Why don't you knock your head on the wall and wake up then?"

I hit the door hard enough to definitely wake up and turned back to my front porch. She was still there; Max, my Max was standing in my doorway, waiting for me to wake up.

"Max," I whispered. My voice caught in my throat and I had to swallow. Suddenly, I was outside in the pouring. Her face was in my hands and her lips were on mine. Surprised for just a second, she blinked rapidly and then brought her hands up to cup my face. Her fingers tangled themselves into my hair. The rain had soaked both our outfits, but that didn't matter. She was mine again; she was here in my arms again. I was perfectly fine.

She wrapped her arms around my neck and I pressed my mouth to her neck and hair. I pulled her legs out from beneath her and carried her inside. It was so good to have her again.

"I thought I'd pushed you away forever. I thought I would never get close to you again." I whispered close to her ear and she sniffled.

"Well, _I miss screaming and fighting and kissing in the rain. It's 2am and I'm cursing your name. I'm so in love that I acted insane and that's the way I loved you. Breaking down and coming undone, it's a roller coaster kinda rush. And I never knew I could feel that much and that's the way I loved you."_ She was quoting a song. She sang the part very softly, but her voice rang out like a choir of angels. "I love you Fang. I made a terrible mistake and I love you. I love you so much, Fang," she repeated.

I set her down on the sofa and asked where she knew the song from. She smiled and told me about her plans with Sam. I asked if it was the same Sam from Virginia and she said no. I sighed with relief.

"I heard the song on the radio and it jolted my memories back from where I had buried them." She kissed me softly and whispered, "That's what made me want to see you again. I realized how much I loved you and that no one else could ever take your place."

I kissed her hard and fast. She broke away after a moment and smiled. "Do you have a bathroom I could change in? I really can't stand soaked jeans."

"Sure." I led her up to my room. She said she had something to change into in her bag and I pointed to the bathroom. I glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It was one AM. I might've still thought I was dreaming, but the pulsing green numbers glared at me. They were daring me to think that I was dreaming, and when I did, they would put everything back into perspective. Max was here, in my house. I had held her. She had kissed me.

My thoughts were broken when Max opened the door and emerged from the bathroom. She was wearing a dress! I remembered her briefly explaining her plans for the night. I hadn't realized she would be dressing up. The dress was cobalt blue and the skirt was ruffled. The sleeves were see-through up to the shoulder. She looked amazing! No, she was more than amazing. There wasn't a word in the English language that could describe how beautiful she was.

Her cheeks were bright red as she came toward me. "Do you like it?" She asked sheepishly. "I thought you'd like to see me in it. After all, I had bought it for one of our dates, but I never used it." She twirled around slowly. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. She was beautiful. She was amazing. She was Max. And best of all, she was mine.

"I'm never going to let you go ever again." I wrapped my arms around her and buried my face in her hair. I ran my nose along her neck. "You must be really tired. Let's get you to bed."

"Carry me." She whispered softly. I set her down on my bed and she smiled up at me. I braced my arms on either side of her stomach. She pleaded, "Kiss me." I obliged. We fell asleep in each other's arms once again.

**Max's POV – Epilogue**

Let's just say, it all worked out. Now, all the flock members get together once a week. We sing and dance and talk and reminisce about our past together. Ella sometimes joins us, but mostly it's just the six of us.

Gazzy and Angel are living with adoptive parents that really care about them. The parents are so sweet and kind and they are really understanding. The kids are both attending middle school.

Nudge and Iggy were married in a small church somewhere in Nevada and are living in the mountains of Colorado now. Nudge is finishing her senior year of high school and moving on the clothing design. Iggy is working with the FBI; his 'skills' are quite useful.

Total and Akila are living in a doggie mansion at my mom's house, where Fang and I are also living. Fang is currently trying to find a job close to home so that we don't have to move too far away from the rest of the flock. The two of us were married about a year after we reunited and are now expecting a baby. We still scream and fight and dance in the rain. 2 o'clock sharp, every morning, I'm screaming at him and swearing too. Sometimes he acts so crazy it drives me insane.

_  
And that's the way I loved you. Never knew I could feel that much, and that's the way I loved you._

But I love him and I wouldn't have it any other way.


End file.
